The market for real estate in Marin County, California, is typical of the larger U.S. housing market. Though prices have fallen steeply from their peaks around 2006 and 2007, the market seems to be stabilizing and it has been helped by the government’s stimulus program offering up to $8,000 in tax credits to qualified home buyers, which has spurred activity in the area in recent months especially.

In November, sales of single-family homes in Marin County surged, up by nearly 77% when compared with sales activity at the same time last year. Despite a strong showing this month, however, year-to-date, sales of homes for sale in Marin County is off by 0.2%. December statistics will determine whether 2009 was a better or worse year for the market than 2008.

Marin County real estate saw a decently sized increase in its home prices during October 2009. According to the California Association of Realtors‘ data, in October, the median price for homes sold was $648,000, up 8% from October 2008, when it was just at $599,750.  In November, however, the median price was down 7.1% from October’s figures, down 5.7%. The November figures were 14.8% lower than November 2008 figures.

According to The Real Estate Report, a licensed California broker run by CPA Ron Parks, the median price for a single-family home in November in Marin County was just $702,000, compared with $755,880 in October of this year and $824,000 in November of last year. The market saw 161 sales in November, down from 171 in October but up decidedly from last November’s 91 sales. Days on the market were down in November, to 92 from 96 in October, but those figures are up from November 2008, when the average number of days on the market was 88.